WWE Defends John Cena's Image

It appears the WWE has fired back about the way flagship star, John Cena was portrayed on the recent CNN piece, "Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling". Apparently CNN edited Cena's interview to best fit their report. In the 33 seconds of footage that was shown during CNN's report, John Cena addresses the question of whether he has used steroids or not. CNN states prior to Cena's comments that the steroid question is one Cena hates being asked. Cena says, "this is a crazy question, and something that is tough to answer because of how society it is now". Cena also says "I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never be able to prove that I have", and that's all that is really shown of Cena's remarks.

The unedited interview footage on WWE.com shows the full interview of about 42 minutes. Cena discusses idolizing Hulk Hogan when he was growing up and how it feels to be idolized himself now. He also discusses starting out as a football player and bodybuilder, then discovered wrestling. The interviewer asks John Cena "have you ever used steroids?" and Cena responds definitively with "Absolutely not". Then Cena's other comments come into play about the steroid controversy. Cena says since he was a small child he's "worked his ass off" to get to this point and it kills him to be sitting there discussing steroids. Cena said he has a "God-given gift of unnatural strength". Cena went on to say its not just a sports entertainment issue but more of an accessibility issue, where kids grow up thinking the quick fix to improving athletic ability is through drugs. Cena also said he wants to be viewed as a "top Hollywood entertainer and a all-pro athlete". Cena also discusses how to address the issue and the WWE Wellness Policy.

From WWE.com:

"In a country in which the news media is highly suspect, and the quality of unbiased reporting has been thrown into the trash can, CNN has stooped to new depths. Notwithstanding the fairness, or lack therein, of CNN’s recent piece entitled “Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling,” perhaps the best example of how CNN misrepresents and unfairly presents their biased, if not illegal, point of view is the comparison of WWE’s unedited video above to CNN’s edited version. CNN’s depiction of John Cena as it relates to steroids is not only professionally and morally wrong, but damaging to his character."

You can watch the video footage of the unedited Cena interview here.